Eagle-eyed fans could even spot a notebook sitting on top of Pig’s organ than housed potential song ideas. Charlie’, ‘The Stranger’, and ‘Chinatown Shuffle’ into the band’s repertoire. However, on the Europe ’72 tour, Pigpen had debuted new songs like ‘Mr. For the next few months, the band would occasionally reference Pig’s absence by explaining that he was resting up and gaining his health back. Keyboardist Ron Pigpen McKernan died in 1973 of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Pigpen never officially left the Grateful Dead, but when the band played their next show a month later in Hartford, Connecticut, Pigpen was no longer a part of the lineup. In March of 1973, Pigpen was found dead in his home of gastrointestinal hemorrhage, at the young age of 27. Property of Grateful Dead ProductionsRon Pigpen McKernanWurlitzer 120,ca. By that time, the band had largely moved away from the blues covers that Pigpen favoured anyway, making him the odd man out. Keyboardist Tom Constanten left Grateful Dead in 1970 to pursue a career in academia. Ron ‘Pigpen’ McKernan had been struggling for a number of years with health issues that negatively affected his performance. The band's earliest sets centered around blues and R&B covers chosen by McKernan. While there was plenty to celebrate, there was also an unmistakable fact that no one wanted to acknowledge: Pigpen was dying. After singing blues at local jam sessions, as Oswego University reports, Pigpen became a founding member of Garcia's jam bands, joining in 1961 in the predecessor groups that would lead to the Grateful Dead. Thanks to shakeups in management, the Dead were playing bigger venues and actually pulling in decent amounts of cash. Having just returned from their first major tour of Europe, which would later be immortalised on the Europe ’72 album, the Dead had a number of new songs, tight arrangements, and lots of new fans. The Grateful Dead were truly hitting their stride in the summer of 1972.
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